You are on page 1of 2

Key: N = New slide Also, point at parts in pictures when reading out.

Parts: Our planet has different layers,a bit like a big apple... The apple has an outer covering or skin; which in our planet would be the crust, shown here . The apple's pulp would be the Earth's viscous mantle . And the apple's core would be the Earth's core, which, itself, is divided into the outer and inner cores. Earth also has different layers outside of it. This is called its atmosphere. (N) Crust: The crust covers the mantle and is the earth's hard outer shell , the surface on which we are living. Compared to the other layers the crust is much thinner. It floats upon the softer, denser mantle. The crust is made up of solid material but this material is not the same everywhere. There is an Oceanic crust and a Continental crust. The first one is about 6-11 km thick and mainly consists of heavy rocks, like basalt. The Continental crust is thicker than the Oceanic crust, about 30 km thick. It is mainly made up of light material like granite. Mantle: The layer above the core is the mantle . It begins about 10 km below the oceanic crust and about 30 km below the continental crust (see The Crust). The mantle is to divide into the inner mantle and the outer/upper mantle. It is about 2,900 km thick and makes up nearly 80 percent of the Earth's total volume. Core: The inner part of the earth is the core . This part of the earth is about 2,900 km below the earth's surface. The core is a dense ball of the elements iron and nickel. It is divided into two layers, the inner core and the outer core. The inner core - the centre of earth - is solid and about 1,250 km thick. The outer core is so hot that the metal is always molten, but the inner core pressures are so great that it cannot melt, even though temperatures there reach 3700C. The outer core is about 2,200 km thick. (N) Earth's Atmosphere: Earth is surrounded by an atmosphere, continually in motion, about 800 km deep which protects it from harmful solar radiation and supports all living things. The atmosphere is divided into five layers - exosphere, thermosphere, mesosphere, stratosphere, troposphere. Troposphere: The troposphere is the lowest major atmospheric layer, and is located from the Earth's surface up to the bottom of the stratosphere. The troposphere is where all of Earth's weather occurs. Air in the troposphere also contains water vapor and small amounts of trace gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen and ozone. Stratosphere: The stratosphere is the second major layer of Earths atmosphere, just above the troposphere, and below the mesosphere. It is stratified in temperature, with warmer layers higher up and cooler layers

farther down. This is in contrast to the troposphere near the Earth's surface, which is cooler higher up and warmer farther down. Mesosphere: The mesosphere (from the Greek words mesos = middle) is the layer of the Earth's atmosphere that is directly above the stratosphere and directly below the thermosphere. The mesosphere is located from about 50 km to 80-90 km altitude above the Earth's surface. Thermosphere: The thermosphere is the layer of the earth's atmosphere directly above the mesosphere and directly below the exosphere. Within this layer, ultraviolet radiation causes ionization. The thermosphere, named from the Greek word, thermos, for heat, begins about 90 km above the earth. Thermosphere is the layer that covers the most space. Exosphere: The exosphere is the uppermost layer of the atmosphere. The exosphere is the highest layer of the atmosphere. Together with the ionosphere, it makes up the thermosphere. The exosphere extends to 10,000 km above the Earth's surface.

You might also like